The Great Transformation

What am I?” is a short film realized by the winner of the first award at Germanwatch’s new script competition. Producers were asked to hand in script ideas along the lines of an ongoing NGO project called “Dialogue on Transformation”. The well-known guessing game “What am I?” is played by four friends all representing one of the multiple crises which could challenge the social-ecological equilibrium on earth: food crisis, climate crisis, depleting fossil fuel reserves and financial speculations. Soon, the four friends guess the roles they are representing – and the first easy going atmosphere darkens. They agree on a second round of the game – with changed signs: This time, they want to take positive solutions as their roles, and all of them unknowingly choose the same term: The Great Transformation. Script by Ben Toussaint Produced and directed by Boris Laaser More information on the issues mentioned above on http://www.germanwatch.org or http://www.dialogue-on-transformation.org

The Indian Pacific Train Trip Perth to Sydney takes now usually about 65 hours. The SBS showed today this same trip within close to 15 hours. Everything had been filmed life, but apparently these 65 hours had been cut to about 15 hours. We watched today only about half of these 15 hours. (The program apparently started today already very early in the morning!) Even watching only about half the program did give us a good impression what it is like to be on the Indian Pacific. Right now it is not quite finished yet. According to the timetable, provided by SBS, this program, that we have been watching for so many hours already, should be finished in about one hour. So I go back now to watch how the train that has just left the Blue Mountains is approaching Sydney. I am looking forward to see how it arrives at Sydney Central!

One hour later: Yes,we have been watching now how the train moved towards Sydney Central along a train line that we are very familar with. They said, all in all the trip fom Perth lasted this time 66 hours.

Uta’s Diary

https://theaimn.com/the-flaw-in-the-glass/

The Uncultured Rhymer To His Cultured Critics

Fight through ignorance, want, and care —
Through the griefs that crush the spirit;
Push your way to a fortune fair,
And the smiles of the world you’ll merit.
Long, as a boy, for the chance to learn —
For the chance that Fate denies you;
Win degrees where the Life-lights burn,
And scores will teach and advise you.

My cultured friends! you have come too late
With your bypath nicely graded;
I’ve fought thus far on my track of Fate,
And I’ll follow the rest unaided.
Must I be stopped by a college gate
On the track of Life encroaching?
Be dumb to Love, and be dumb to Hate,
For the lack of a college coaching?

You grope for Truth in a language dead —
In the dust ’neath tower and steeple!
What know you of the tracks we tread?
And what know you of our people?
‘I must read this, and that, and the rest,’
And write as the cult expects me? —
I’ll read the book that may please me best,
And write as my heart directs me!

You were quick to pick on a faulty line
That I strove to put my soul in:
Your eyes were keen for a ‘dash’ of mine
In the place of a semi-colon —
And blind to the rest. And is it for such
As you I must brook restriction?
‘I was taught too little?’ I learnt too much
To care for a pedant’s diction!

Must I turn aside from my destined way
For a task your Joss would find me?
I come with strength of the living day,
And with half the world behind me;
I leave you alone in your cultured halls
To drivel and croak and cavil:
Till your voice goes further than college walls,
Keep out of the tracks we travel!

(Henry Lawson)

http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/lawson-henry-7118

One Day ago Josef Carli published ‘the flaw in the glass’ in the AIMNetwork. In the comments to this blog, Joe was very much criticized for attacking the ‘educated’ middle class. The above poem by Henry Lawson was included in Carli’s blog. As far as I can tell, nobody objects to what Henry Lawson, Continue reading “Uta’s Diary” →

Uta’s Diary January 2019

Summer in Australia

The apricots and cherries were very good this summer! We had plenty of fruit for Christmas.

We are in Dapto, New South Wales, in the Illawarra of Australia. So far we had a very warm, but not too warm summer, whereas in lots of places of Australia the temperature went well over 40C for days on end this. Where we are, I think the highest temperature so far has been about 37C, and then going quickly down to maybe 35C so that the temperature in our house never went above 30C. When it is very humid, this sometimes feels quite hot. Then we have the ceiling fans going all the time.

With a very balmy temperature and no wind it is very pleasant to romp around in our beautiful Dapto Public Pool! Our Council provides a lot of Public Pools. You can see it here: http://www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/facilities/beachespools/pages/pools.aspx#gref

For extreme heat days we do have an air conditioning set that is portable. We can set it up in any room that we like to cool. Usually we do not need to set this thing up. Only when the outside temperature goes above 40C we resort to it, for then the inside temperature might go well above 30C and a respite is very welcome! Sometimes the nights are quite hot too. Then of course we cover ourselves only with a sheet. Luckily, the last couple of nights were very much cooler after we have had some extremely hot nights. So we could use our blankets again! To have only 20C feels rather cool!

These are the surrounds of the Dapto solar heated Pool

Favorite Children’s Books

Please go to my other site here to read about my favorite children’s books:

https://auntielive.wordpress.com/2019/01/06/favorite-childrens-books-part-three/

China: Misunderstood and often Misrepresented

This is a very thought provoking account about conditions in China. I found it very interesting reading, and this is why I reblog it here:

The Real Intel Report

Today, I will talk about China.

(original broadcast can be found at BlogTalkRadio and Podbean)

China_relief_map People’s Republic of China

For centuries China lead the world in arts and sciences. In the 19th and early 20th centuries that changed as the country encountered civil unrest, famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After WWII, Mao Zedong rose to power as a communist establishing an autocratic socialist system – this ensured China’s sovereignty, but imposed strict controls over everyday life and ended up costing tens of millions of lives. After 1978, Mao’s successor, Deng Xiaoping and other leaders focused on a more market-oriented economy and by the year 2000 economic output had quadrupled. This resulted in much of the population seeing much improved living standards, along with relaxed governmental controls over personal choice – as a note, even though more freedoms exist, political controls are still very tight today. Since the early…

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Alone in Berlin – Everyone Dies Alone: YouTube Video

Today we watched this movie with Hildegard Knef.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everyone_Dies_Alone

Hans Fallada’s book is based on a true story, and this film was made based on Fallada’s book. We saw the film in German. When I say German, I would like to point out, most actors spoke with a very strong Berlin dialect! The acting was very good. However some of the characters in this story are so disgusting that it is hard to watch them. And these very disgusting characters were the ones in powerful positions and the more gentle and better educated characters were always powerless to do anything against the most horrible excesses of those in power. The film shows what happens to simple, not very well educated people that just lead an ordinary life when for some reason they object to how the regime treats them – in this case the Nazi regime.

This movie is set into 1940 in Berlin. Maybe at the time the majority of the population would not have objected much to the way the war was handled by the Nazis. They may have still believed that it was important to support all the war efforts. The propaganda was, that you had to make sacrifices for the good of the nation. If your son died in battle, even if it was your only son, you should be proud of him that he died a war hero. And so on. Only slowly, after several years of war, more and more people would regard this continuing war as madness and wanting to protest against it. It was common knowledge that any protesters would be severely punished. The resistance fighters would have been well aware that protesting against the regime could mean certain death if they were caught.

Jeder stirbt für sich allein Trailer German Deutsch: Alone in Berlin Trailer)

Abba – Happy New Year

Pavlova research reveals dessert’s shock origins

I looked up this article in Google here:

https://www.goodfood.com.au/eat-out/news/pavlova-research-reveals-desserts-shock-origins-20151010-gk5yv9

It seems to me that it is impossible to tell the exact origins of this dessert because in one form or another it probably existed long before someone gave it the name pavlova!

The following is a little extract that I copied. What caught my attention was the German name “baiser torte’. It reminded me that as a four year old I loved “Sahne Baiser”.
I think meringues are baisers. It says with meringues are “melt-in-the-mouth moments” created. And this is exactly like this with “baisers” and especially “creamy” baisers (Sahne Baiser)

“As German-speaking immigrants moved to America, they brought with them meringue-based desserts called schaum torte (which translates as foam cake) and baiser torte (commonly known now as Kiss Cake). A large proportion of these immigrants settled in the mid-west of America . . . ”

This little video shows that Meringue Cookies is the same as Baisers.

Why did I say I loved them as a four year old? Well, in the early German summer of 1939 we spent the holidays in Zoppot at the Baltic Sea. This is where I was introduced to “Sahne Baiser”. I could not get enough of them, meaning every afternoon I was allowed to have one going out with Mum to a cafe with that “Kalte Platte”. The “Kalte Platte” was a dance floor in the open, if I remember right.

And here I found something CHRISTMASSY by Mr Bean:

The 21st of December 2018

Before we went to the cinema, we had a few snacks and coffee. We saw ‘The old man and the Gun’ with Robert Redford. It was quite hilarious how the bank-robber (Robert Redford) smiled at his victims and behaved like a ‘gentleman’. It is said this is Redford’s last movie.

The second movie we saw was ‘Colette’. I found it very interesting how Colette did become a famous author!

On the 21st of December 1956, that is 62 years ago, we saw in Berlin the following two movies together with Peter’s sister Ilse and brother-ilaw Klaus: